Key points
- Funding for Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab was cut
- Research lab had detailed alleged deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia
- Moscow acted correctly in moving Ukrainian children: Putin
ISLAMABAD: The Trump administration has withdrawn from investigations into alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
The US government defunded one programme and left another that both document alleged Russian war crimes, according to BBC.
Funding for the Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab was cut by the Trump administration.
The Humanitarian Research Lab had detailed the alleged “mass deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia”.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the policy of moving Ukrainian children from areas hit by the fighting to Russia and rejected accusations that the practice was illegal.
“We were moving them out of the conflict zone, saving their lives – this is what’s been happening,” Putin said.
He added that “nobody intended to separate the children from their families.”
“We evacuated entire orphanages, and did so absolutely legally because the heads of these orphanages were their [legal] representatives,” Putin said.
We were moving them out of the conflict zone, saving their lives – this is what’s been happening.” – Russian President Vladimir Putin
BBC reported that it has also withdrawn from a multinational group meant to investigate the leaders responsible for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including President Vladimir Putin.
These moves come after Trump spoke with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.
Contrary to the current US administration, the previous US administration sought to try Russia for invasion of Ukraine.
Push back
The Humanitarian Research Lab said in a statement that they had been notified “that government funding for their work on the war in Ukraine has been discontinued”.
BBC also reported that a bipartisan group of 17 members of Congress pushed back on the funding cut for the research lab, saying their work is a “vital resource” in preserving evidence.
In a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the lawmakers said the Humanitarian Research Lab has compiled data on 30,000 children allegedly abducted from Ukraine.
He said it is “absolutely crucial” to ensuring that they are returned home.
It said these abductions were taking place amid a “concerning reduction in American leadership in countering these crimes”.
